Manu, Mahinmi stay after class

HOUSTON — When the bus carrying the Spurs to and from their morning shootaround left the Toyota Center, two players were not on it.

Manu Ginobili and Ian Mahinmi stayed behind with the team’s medical staff, testing their respective injured ankles. Ginobili has missed 13 games with a stress reaction in his right ankle. Mahinmi has been out with one ankle injury or another more or less for the entire season, and underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in January.

This morning, long after the rest of the Spurs had returned to the team hotel, both players underwent a regimen of footwork exercises meant to evaluate their recovery. Ginobili finished his workout with some light shooting, including drills involving movement.

Mahinmi is not expected to contribute at the NBA level this season. The timetable for Ginobili’s return remains what it was earlier this week, when Gregg Popovich said, “When he’s ready, he’ll play.”